This study investigates gender-based differences in eco-efficiency among Hungarian field crop farms, using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network between 2015 and 2020. Applying Data Envelopment Analysis and Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions, we reveal a consistent eco-efficiency advantage for women-headed farms, particularly at mid-quantiles of eco-efficiency distribution. This advantage is largely attributed to women's ability to optimize resource use effectively, though unexplained factors also contribute, suggesting potential differences in management practices. Results highlight that women-led farms often adopt eco-efficient practices that may contribute to sustainability goals. These findings highlight the need for policies that support women farmers' access to resources, knowledge, and innovation in eco-friendly farming practices, helping to enhance sustainability in agricultural production. Encouraging women participation in sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship could play a critical role in driving eco-efficiency across the crop sector, ultimately contributing to environmental resilience and rural socio-economic development.

Corvinus University of Budapest Fővám tér 8 Budapest 1097 Hungary

Czech University of Life Sciences Kamycka 129 Prague Czech Republic

HUN REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies Tóth K u 4 Budapest 1112 Hungary

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra Tr A Hlinku 2 Nitra 949 76 Slovakia

University of Primorska Izolska vrata 2 Koper SI 6000 Slovenia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Baležentis, T., Morkūnas, M., Volkov, A., Ribašauskienė, E. & Štreimikienė, D. Are women neglected in the EU agriculture? Evidence from Lithuanian young farmers. Land. Use Pol.101, 105129 (2021). PubMed PMC

Czyżewski, B., Prędki, A. & Brelik, A. Importance of women empowerment for eco-efficiency of small farms in the context of other social factors: Building sustainable agriculture in central and Eastern European countries. Sustain. Dev.32 (5), 5550–5566 (2024).

Devkota, R., Pant, L., Odame, H., Paudyal, B. & Bronson, K. Rethinking gender mainstreaming in agricultural innovation policy in Nepal: a critical gender analysis. Agric. Hum. Values. 39 (4), 1373–1390 (2022).

Lopez, D. E., Frelat, R. & Badstue, L. B. Towards gender-inclusive innovation: assessing local conditions for agricultural targeting. PLoS One. 17, e0263771 (2022). PubMed PMC

Gomes, D., Jesus, M., Rosa, R. & Bandeira, C. & Da Costa, C. A. Women in family farming: evidence from a qualitative study in two Portuguese inner regions. Front. Sociol.7, 939590 (2022). PubMed PMC

Unay-Gailhard, İ. & Bojnec, Š. Gender and the environmental concerns of young farmers: do young women farmers make a difference on family farms? J. Rural Stud.88, 71–82 (2021).

Fertő, I. & Bojnec, Š. Empowering women in sustainable agriculture. Sci. Rep.14, 7110 (2024). PubMed PMC

Fertő, I. & Bojnec, Š. Gender equality and green entrepreneurship in farms. Sustain. Dev.10.1002/sd.3337 (2025).

Muscat, A. et al. Principles, drivers and opportunities of a circular bioeconomy. Nat. Food. 2, 561–566 (2021). PubMed

Ait Sidhoum, A., Canessa, C. & Sauer, J. Effects of agri-environment schemes on farm‐level eco‐efficiency measures: empirical evidence from EU countries. J. Agric. Econ.74 (2), 551–569 (2023).

Baráth, L. et al. Does participation in agri-environmental schemes increase eco-efficiency? Sci. Total Environ.906, 167518 (2024). PubMed

Heidenreich, A. et al. Sustainable intensification pathways in Sub-Saharan Africa: assessing eco-efficiency of smallholder perennial cash crop production. Agric. Syst.195, 103304 (2022).

Stępień, S. et al. Eco-efficiency of small-scale farming in Poland and its institutional drivers. J. Clean. Prod.279, 123721 (2021).

Kuosmanen, T. & Kortelainen, M. Measuring eco-efficiency of production with data envelopment analysis. J. Ind. Ecol.9 (4), 59–72 (2005).

Ndiritu, S. W., Kassie, M. & Shiferaw, B. Are there systematic gender differences in the adoption of sustainable agricultural intensification practices? Evidence from Kenya. Food Policy. 49, 117–127 (2014).

Fremstad, A. & Paul, M. Opening the farm gate to women? The gender gap in U.S. Agriculture. J. Econ. Issues. 54, 124–141 (2020).

Liu, S. Gender disparities in rural education attainments and agricultural landownership from the perspective of sustainable development goals (SDGs): evidence from 16 Sub-Sahara African countries. RAUSP Manag J.57 (4), 401–412 (2022).

Candemir, A., Duvaleix-Tréguer, S. & Latruffe, L. Agricultural cooperatives and farm sustainability – a literature review. J. Econ. Surv.35 (4), 1118–1144 (2021).

Rola-Rubzen, M. F., Paris, T., Hawkins, J. & Sapkota, B. Improving gender participation in agricultural technology adoption in Asia: from rhetoric to practical action. Appl. Econ. Perspect. Policy. 42, 113–125 (2020).

Vilkė, R., Gedminaitė-Raudonė, Ž., Baležentis, T. & Štreimikienė, D. Farmers’ awareness of eco-efficiency and cleaner production as environmental responsibility: Lithuanian case. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Manag. 28(1), 288–298 (2020). (2020).

Blinder, A. S. Wage discrimination: reduced form and structural estimates. J. Hum. Resour.8, 436–455 (1973).

Oaxaca, R. Male-female wage differentials in urban labor markets. Int. Econ. Rev.14, 693–709 (1973).

Kilic, T., Palacios-Lopez, A. & Goldstein, M. Caught in a productivity trap: A distributional perspective on gender differences in Malawian agriculture. World Dev.70, 416–463 (2015).

Aguilar, A., Carranza, E., Goldstein, M., Kilic, T. & Oseni, G. Decomposition of gender differentials in agricultural productivity in Ethiopia. Agric. Econ.46 (3), 311–334 (2015).

Ali, D., Bowen, D., Deininger, K. & Duponchel, M. Investigating the gender gap in agricultural productivity: evidence from Uganda. World Dev.87, 152–170 (2016).

EC. Farm Sustainability Data Network. European Commission, Brussels. accessed 20 November 2024). (2024). https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/data-and-analysis/farm-structures-and-economics/fsdn_en

Simar, L. & Zelenyuk, V. On testing equality of distributions of technical efficiency scores. Econom Rev.25 (4), 497–522 (2006).

Muhaimin, A., Retnoningsih, D. & Pariasa, I. The role of women in sustainable agriculture practices: evidence from East Java, Indonesia. IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci.1153 (1), 012005 (2023).

Rietveld, A. M. et al. J. Understanding diversity in gender norms within farming communities: A Q-methodology approach applied in Uganda. NJAS-Imp Agr Life Sc. 95 (1), 2279542 (2023).

Nordhagen, S., Pascual, U. & Drucker, A. Gendered differences in crop diversity choices: a case study from Papua new Guinea. World Dev.137, 105134 (2021).

Forsythe, L. Gender-based violence in food systems. Nat. Food. 4, 472–475 (2023). PubMed

Njuki, J. et al. A review of evidence on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and food systems. Glob Food Secur.33, 100622 (2022).

Yisa, S., Nwojo, M. I., Coker, A. A. A., Adewumi, A. & Ibrahim, F. D. Gender differentials in technical efficiency among small-scale cassava farmers in abia State, Nigeria. Asian J. Agricultural Ext. Econ. Sociol.38 (5), 98–109 (2020).

Plummer, R., Baird, J. & Dale, G. What makes an environmental steward? An individual differences approach. Environ. Values 31(3), 295–322 (2022). (2022).

Reimer, A. P., Thompson, A. W. & Prokopy, L. S. The multi-dimensional nature of environmental attitudes among farmers in Indiana: implications for conservation adoption. Agric. Hum. Values. 29 (1), 29–40 (2012).

Thompson, A. W., Reimer, A. & Prokopy, L. S. Farmers’ views of the environment: the influence of competing attitude frames on landscape conservation efforts. Agric. Hum. Values. 32 (3), 385–399 (2015).

Campbell, B. M., Beare, D. J., Bennett, E. M., Hall-Spencer, J. M., Ingram, J. S.I., Jaramillo, F., … Shindell, D. Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceeding planetary boundaries. Ecol. Soc.22(4), 8 (2017).

Agathokleous, E. et al. Adapting crop production to climate change and air pollution at different scales. Nat. Food. 4, 854–865 (2023). PubMed

Li, Y. et al. Changes in global food consumption increase GHG emissions despite efficiency gains along global supply chains. Nat. Food. 4, 483–495 (2023). PubMed

Galli, A. et al. EU-27 ecological footprint was primarily driven by food consumption and exceeded regional biocapacity from 2004 to 2014. Nat. Food. 4, 810–822 (2023). PubMed PMC

Altarturi, H. H. M., Nor, A. R. M., Jaafar, N. I. & Anuar, N. A bibliometric and content analysis of technological advancement applications in agricultural e-commerce. Electron. Commer. Res.25, 805–848 (2025).

Pedersen, S. M. et al. Drivers and barriers to climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies adoption: insights from stakeholders of five European food supply chains. Smart Agric. Technol.8, 100478 (2024).

Aguiar, A., Silva, L., da Costa, C. A. & Parente, C. Organizational innovation in the context of family farms: lean diagnosis. J. Innov. Manag. 8(2), 68–86 (2020). (2020).

Duff, A. J., Zedler, P. H., Barzen, J. A. & Knuteson, D. L. The Capacity-Building stewardship model: assessment of an agricultural network as a mechanism for improving regional agroecosystem sustainability. Ecol. Soc.22 (1), 45 (2017).

Rietveld, A. M., Groot, J. C. J. & van der Burg, M. Predictable patterns of unsustainable intensification. Int. J. Agr. Sustain. 20, 461–477 (2021). (2021).

Wuepper, D., Le Clech, S., Mueller, N., Zilberman, D. & Finger, R. Countries influence the trade-off between crop yields and nitrogen pollution. Nat. Food. 1, 713–719 (2020). PubMed

Bonilla-Cedrez, C. et al. Priority areas for investment in more sustainable and climate-resilient livestock systems. Nat. Sustain.6, 1279–1286 (2023).

Kanter, D. R., Chodos, O., Nordland, O., Rutigliano, M. & Winiwarter, W. Gaps and opportunities in nitrogen pollution policies around the world. Nat. Sustain.3 (11), 1–8 (2020).

Neyret, M. et al. Landscape management strategies for multifunctionality and social equity. Nat. Sustain.6, 391–403 (2023).

Tang, S., Shang, J. & Chen, X. The impact of environmental regulation on agricultural ecological efficiency from the perspective of high-quality agricultural development: evidence from 30 provinces in China. Mob. Inf. Syst.2022 (1872139), 1–10 (2022).

Duan, J. et al. Consolidation of agricultural land can contribute to agricultural sustainability in China. Nat. Food. 2, 1014–1022 (2021). PubMed

Mulema, A. A., Cramer, L. & Huyer, S. Stakeholder engagement in gender and climate change policy processes: lessons from the climate change, agriculture and food security research program. Front. Sustain. Food Syst.6, 862654 (2022).

Springmann, M. & Freund, F. Options for reforming agricultural subsidies from health, climate, and economic perspectives. Nat. Commun.13, 82 (2022). PubMed PMC

van der Werf, H. M. G., Knudsen, M. T. & Cederberg, C. Towards better representation of organic agriculture in life cycle assessment. Nat. Sustain.3, 419–425 (2020).

Wuepper, D. et al. Agri-environmental policies from 1960 to 2022. Nat. Food. 5, 323–331 (2024). PubMed PMC

Daigle, K. & Heiss, S. Supporting agricultural resilience: the value of women farmers’ communication practices. J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.9 (4), 1–19 (2020).

Khatri-Chhetri, A., Regmi, P., Chanana, N. & Aggarwal, P. Potential of climate-smart agriculture in reducing women farmers’ drudgery in high Climatic risk areas. Clim. Change. 158 (1), 29–42 (2020).

Dai, Z. et al. Influence of university agricultural technology extension on efficient and sustainable agriculture. Sci. Rep.14, 4874 (2024). PubMed PMC

ElKhorazaty, N. E. & Zaky, H. H. M. A gender approach to time and food security: a case study of Egypt. Discov Sustain.3 (1), 34 (2022).

Cui, Z. L. et al. Pursuing sustainable productivity with millions of smallholder farmers. Nature555, 363–366 (2018). PubMed

Grabowski, P., Djenontin, I., Zulu, L., Kamoto, J., Kampanje-Phiri, J., Darkwah, A.,… Fischer, G. Gender- and youth-sensitive data collection tools to support decision making for inclusive sustainable agricultural intensification. Int. J. Agr. Sustain.19(5–6), 359–375 (2020).